Open thread: FBI press conference on Boston bombings; Update: Photos and video added; Update: Do cops have the names? Update: New pic discovered?

posted at 4:41 pm on April 18, 2013 by Allahpundit

5 p.m. ET, all across the dial. The feds announced this morning that they’re planning to release images of the two suspects from the surveillance video sometime today. Presumably that means at the presser itself or shortly before or after; once they’re online, they’ll be posted below. A key detail via the Globe: “The official said that the two suspects were seen separately on videotape — one at each of the two bombing sites, which are located about a block apart.” That’s one thing that bothered me about the people being scrutinized in the Reddit photos. In at least two cases, the two “suspects” were standing right next to each other, conversing. If you and a partner were looking to bomb something and not get caught, rule one would/should be to avoid each other at the site itself so as not to make things easier for the cops later, right?

Update: Steve Emerson told Sean Hannity last night that ICE is planning to deport the Saudi national whom cops initially investigated as a person of interest in the bombing, then cleared. Per the Blaze, Emerson said it was on “national security grounds.” Other sources confirmed Emerson’s claim for the Blaze and basically allege that something suspicious is going on, not just with the Saudi but with his associates. But an ICE official told BuzzFeed this afternoon that it’s not true: The Saudi in the hospital isn’t being deported, a different Saudi national is. And that guy supposedly has nothing to do with the bombing. The Blaze later updated to note that its sources now say ICE has reconsidered and might not deport the Saudi in the hospital. How much of this is true and whether it has anything to do with the bombing is unclear at the moment, but there you go.

Update: Yep, images on the way.

#FBI will be releasing video and still images relating to #BostonBombing at press conference set for 5pm ET

Update: Fox Boston has one of the photos that the FBI’s planning to release at 5. All I can make out is the backwards white cap and the fact that the guy appears to be standing near a mailbox, possibly the same one that was seen in those photos released yesterday of a mysterious bag. If you’ve seen that guy in any of the hundreds of marathon photos floating around online, e-mail us.

Update: The FBI’s posted multiple photos of the two suspects at its website. To my surprise, the two were together — but maybe not obviously “together” judging from the surveillance footage. The guy in the white cap, at least, looks very young, possibly even a teenager. I don’t remember them from any of the online photos I looked at yesterday but the black cap worn by the second suspect does look vaguely familiar.

Neither one drops a bag so there must be other video they’re not releasing yet.

Update: Here’s one that caught my eye a few days ago. This isn’t Black Cap, isn’t it? The pants, coat, and bag all look sort of right, but the hat seems lighter in this pic than in the vid. And there’s no white shirt here.

Update: Silly mistake on my part: Ed points out via e-mail that this pic was taken after the blast, per the broken window on the right. Unless Black Cap was hanging out close by, which would be nutty, that’s not him.

Update: Someone in Reddit’s thread on this notes, apparently correctly, that Black Cap is wearing a Bridgestone golf cap.

Update: What’s that symbol on the side of White Cap’s hat? It looks like a “T” but with the right side of the letter lighter than the left side.

Update: More from the Reddit thread: White Cap might be wearing a Polo hat.

CBS News correspondent John Miller explained why these two people are believed by the FBI to be possible suspects: “They have other video, including the one Orr referenced, where they believe they actually have on tape one of the suspects in the white baseball cap putting the bomb down in front of the Starbucks at the second location. But reason they selected the pictures we’re seeing here is they wanted to find the pictures that didn’t have the most sinister activity but the pictures that gave people the best chance of recognizing them.”

Update: Big news, if true:

BREAKING: Sources tell CBS News investigators have possible names of the men seen in the video #wbz#bostonmarathon

Update: Some Reddit users think this pic is photoshopped but it looks legit to me. You’ve got White Cap on the far left, leaving the scene of the bombing — and there, behind him next to the lady in the pink coat, appears to be Black Cap. First fair look we’ve gotten at his face.

Update: Actually, is that Black Cap in the last pic? It’s definitely White Cap — and I don’t see his backpack, post-blast — but the white part on Black Cap’s hat might not match up to the hat in the FBI photos.

Why were these guys in close proximity after the bombings? Didn’t they plant them a block or so apart?

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